Tag Archive | Healthy living

Homemade Meatballs

So in true Erica fashion I forgot to take meat out of the freezer for dinner today! Luckily I realized this while Kevin and I were in Vancouver picking up my race packet for tomorrow’s Color me rad run! We made a quick stop at Whole foods on Cambie! I was a happy girl!! We picked up lots of yummy stuff and decided to make meatballs!

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These meatballs are moist and flavorful. They can be used in a variety of ways such as meatball subs or appetizers. Tonight I served them on pasta with veggie loaded sauce and a warm fresh baked parmesan herb muffin for a filling, healthy pre race dinner!

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Ingredients

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1 Pound of extra lean ground beef
1/2 pound of ground pork
1 small pepper chopped
1/2 a medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 egg beaten
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
5 splashes worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup oats
4 crushed stone wheat crackers
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 tablespoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt

Optional ingredients but suggested for yum factor!

1/2 cup crispy onions
1/4 cup tortilla strips

Method

Mix ground beef and ground pork

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Add all ingredients with meat in a large bowl and mix well with hands until combine.

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Did you notice my giant garlic?!? We got elephant garlic in Seattle! I love it! It is sweeter then normal garlic. The below photo is one clove in my hand!

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Once the mixture is well combine form well packed meatballs in your choice of size…I made giant meatballs a little larger then golf balls.

Cooking will depend on the size you made. Just be sure the internal temperatures reaches 165 degrees. I did this by baking them in the oven for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. I cooked uncovered for the first 20 minutes then loosely covered with foil for the last 20 minutes. Feel free to pan fry these if you choose! I cooked mine in our new specialty meatball pan. The pan is designed to let the fat run out and works fanatically!

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Seriously Stuffed Saturday

Hi friends, it is 10:30 P.M. and to say I’m tired is an overstatement!  I’ve been ready to crawl into bed since about 8 P.M. but for a number of reasons that hasn’t happened yet.  Muffin and I were up bright and early and had a jam packed day.  We were up early for a good reason at least, her epic-ally over due spa day. I present for your viewing enjoyment an no longer unruly, shaggy beast!

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Spending the morning at the spa is apparently very exhausting!

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Once Muffin was safely at the groomer I ventured to the gym. I was pleased to find it wasn’t terribly busy for a Saturday morning in January. Have peoples resolutions already fizzled? 

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I completed 35 minutes of cardio, split between the bike and elliptical and then 30 minutes of arm weights and ab work. Followed that up with 15 minutes of stretching and called it a day. It was a good work out, I was off in my own little Taylor Swift workout fueled zone. I am such a geek!

After the gym I headed to Starbucks to meet a girlfriend and her fiance for coffee. We chatted for well over an hour. Lots of catching up was done and even more wedding talk! She is getting married in the somewhat near future and we had a great time chatting about ideas, mostly cupcakes. 

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My skinny peppermint mocha vanished all to quickly! Note to self: Don’t skip breakfast before the gym! Healthy living fail. After coffee I headed back to the groomer to pick up Muffin and then had a visit with my parents and my adorable niece who is feeling a little under the weather after her big snow sledding trip. 

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I somehow managed to go till mid afternoon with no food. I know, I know! I almost never do that and trust me by the time I got food in me I wasn’t feeling so great. After a late lunch Kevin and I leashed up Muffin and my Brother and Sister in law’s dog Maple up for a walk around the neighbor hood.

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Maple was more interested in the world then having her picture taken! Please forgive her she is still a puppy.

Muffin on the other paw was more interested in visiting with her neighbor BFF dog, Sophie. Of course she was also concerned about looking fashionable in her little pink fur lined jacket. Someone really should slap me! 

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After our walk Kevin attempted to watch some football but I caused much distraction by doing another 15 minute mini trampoline workout. Who knew jumping up and down was a distraction for men! Ya learn something everyday!

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If you have one of these I suggest you utilize it! I did a few exercises but the sit/stand with the medicine ball was felt the most. It is amazing how such a simple exercise can be so effective.  I used my extra work out as an excuse to eat a piece of yesterdays banana bread with some peanut butter.  So yummy!

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 My other snack of the day was much healthier I promise. Veggies and dip, an easy stand by.

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Later in the evening Kevin and I ventured back out to get me a pair of shoes I saw yesterday. I loved them when I saw them but wasn’t 100% sure I needed them at the time. After thinking about them all day I decided I did want them and much to my sadness by the time we got back to the store my size was all sold out. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Have I mentioned life is hard? 

Once home I tackled dinner.

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I made whole wheat spaghetti with my Mom’s meat sauce recipe. It calls for an abundance of garlic, mushrooms, onions, peppers  and lean ground beef amoung a few other key ingredients. Kevin likes to dust his pasta with parmeasan, which has never been on my yum list.   Don’t get me wrong I love parmeasan, heck I love all cheese. I just don’t like it on my pasta sauce. I am very odd when it comes to food, and mostly all aspects of everything! OCD for the win!! More on that little jem some other day. 

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After dinner the three of us did some cuddling and I whined about being sore, and seriously considered a bubble bath. 

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 We have some pretty intense cuddle sessions in this house!

I am sure you have noticed my love of owl’s, they pop up everywhere around my house and on me. Today was no different. Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? I did all day.  This little hooter peeked out of my sleeve and stared back at me every time I looked down today.  Such a cute little bracelet!

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That is as close as a picture of me gets today. No one needs to see my look of exhaustion.  So with that friends I am going to leave you for the day. I think I am going to tackle that bubble bath. My goal is to not fall asleep in the tub but I make no promises. 

 

 

Friday Before And After!

Hi Friends, both new and old! I am very excited to see a few of you commenting. Thank you! So my day started off rather productive, Kev and Muffin had no intention of getting out of bed when I did, so I busied myself in the kitchen. Did some dinner prep, baked some banana bread, and finally made an omelette and English muffins to entice the other two lazy bones out of bed!!!

I thought it might be fun to show you some before and after photos of my kitchen adventures today!! Here we go! Greek lemon potatoes prepped to soak for the day in lemon juice, olive oil, white wine, garlic, and spices.

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And after an hour in the oven this evening…

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I made a bowl of homemade tzatziki because Greek potatoes just aren’t the same without it in my opinion. I used chopped cucumber, low fat Greek yogurt, dill, garlic, lemon juice, a little olive oil, and a touch of salt and pepper.Image

The finished product had a serious garlic kick. Just how we like it.

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Kevin and I paired our Greek potatoes with some Barbqued pepper garlic pork tender loin and some sauteed zucchini with a sprinkle of parmasan.

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It turned out pretty delightful, but im not going to lie I am glad I am not the one who had to stand outside in the dark to barbque the pork. Thanks Kevin! Love you.

Up next on my “To Do” list after prepping dinner this morning was to make a couple loaves of banana bread. I love baking and my friends and family don’t seem to mind because I always like to gift my creations. That way I don’t eat it all myself. Always thinking 😉

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The final product, with a little Instagram filter action for your enjoyment!

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If any of you would like me to post my recipes for anything I make please just let me know. I am considering adding a recipes tab if there is any interest.

I didn’t spend all day in the kitchen, though I could have today. I visited my parents and then this afternoon we ventured out to find some new oven mitts and of course as always with shopping I ended up with more then mitts. I got a new wallet, shorts for the gym, kitchen towels, and a few other things. The wallet was a necessity as mine decided to give up on life mid way through Christmas shopping last month. I finally found one I liked okay fine loved. It has owls on it, clearly I couldn’t say no.

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When we got home from shopping Muffin was sure everything I purchased was simply hers and all made for a cozy bed.

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As if spoiling myself wasn’t bad enough, my best friend Katie showed up this afternoon bearing gifts for me.

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New Pj pants, a reusable owl bag and some Bath and body works bath gel. See told you I was spoiled! Katie is awesome, but she’s my friend you can’t have her! 😉 Okay find maybe I can share! You should know I managed to unload a good chunk of banana bread on her before she escaped my house.

Muffin would like me to show you all her before, during, and after her big yawn today.

So here we are before, just chilling with dad. No big thing!

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Then it happened and i’m still not sure how I caught it on camera, but my little tiny nine pound fur ball let out the worlds biggest yawn. For a second I thought we were all going to be sucked into some sort of puppy black hole!

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>;Promptly after the big yawn she went back to relaxing. You know the thing that takes up most of her doggy day!!

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I need to reiterate that her life is hard people! So very hard! She is going for a groomer visit very soon to tame that mess of fur she has going on. I promise you will be shocked when you see her after a day at the spa. She will look ridiculous and not in a good way. You’ve been warned.

It has been raining here most of the day and I haven’t felt so great. Sometime soon I will get into the reason why I don’t feel so great lately but for now I won’t. I didn’t go to the gym as I had planned and I guess I just have to accept that for what it is. We did However spend a good solid hour walking today and I thankfully we did so indoors. I am going to take Muffin around the block and catch up on some blog reading before we call it a night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day exercise wise.

Enjoy your Friday night friends!

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Happy New Year!

I for one can’t believe the year is already upon us! No one told how fast time and life would move once I became an adult! I hope everyone had a fun night and didn’t wake up feeling too rough this morning!! My night was pretty dark and low key..Muffin and I spent the final hours of 2012 at work doing next to nothing thanks to a power outage. Not exactly how I ended to say farewell to the year. Oh well, just one of those things in life that remind me how little control we really have sometimes .

I woke up this morning and threw together a yummy breakfast consisting of ancient grains hot cereal, a scoop of peanut butter, and a banana. It was delicious and filling. The Starbucks skinny peppermint mocha wasn’t to shabby either!

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After breakfast I did my typical work duties until it was time to conquer lunch. I decided to make a hearty salad consisting of mixed baby greens, avocado, cucumber, pineapple, pecans, cashews, feta and a few crispy onions for some crunch! I sprinkled the whole thing with a little fig balsamic vinegar. This is where I wish I had stopped but alas live and learn! I added the garlic salmon burger patty I had cooked as my protein source and learned quickly it was a bad choice. I like to try to buy local, so on a recent trip to Choices Market I picked up a box of Ella’s Finest Garlic Ginger Salmon Burgers.

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I think I paid about $6 for the two pack and cooked them according to box directions. They smelled decent enough while cooking but first bite proved other wise. I actually ended up picking it back out of my salad after trying two bites. I am sorry to report in my opinion it maybe the worst salmon I’ve ever had! It was very dry and flavourless, not at all what I was expecting. Once I removed the salmon the salad wasn’t half bad, tho I’m sure I will be looking for a snack sooner then usual thanks to my protein void lunch. Ya can’t win ’em all my friends!

I think I’m going to bundle up and take Muffin for a walk around the neighbour hood. It is cold and crisp but not snowing or raining! So I figure we both could benefit from a little fresh air and a break from “work”! Incase you’re curious this is what Muff’s Work day has looked like thus far today …

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“Just checking Facebook mom!”

But mostly this…

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Life is hard people!!!!
Have a great day!